BACKUP / CONTINUITY
Plan beyond the power cut.
Bring camera, switch and recorder loads into one backup estimate. Check both UPS output capacity and battery energy.
Built for installers.
Useful before the first cable.
Installation planner
The backup plan
Use battery energy and a realistic allowance for the whole system.
Non-PoE load plus estimated switch/cable losses. Do not count cameras twice.
Use the UPS watt rating. VA is not interchangeable with watts.
Enter nominal battery Wh or usable energy at the AC output.
Applied to nominal Wh only. Adjust for conversion losses, age and discharge rate.
Planning target; runtime remains an estimate.
The default 85% fraction is an editable assumption, not a manufacturer specification.
Runtime is an energy-based estimate. Battery age, discharge rate and UPS behavior can change the result materially.
Your system, sized.
- Storage with margin
- 12.442 TB
10.368 TB footage + 20% allowance
- Camera traffic
- 32 Mbps
40 Mbps with 25% headroom
- Recommended PoE
- 145 W
116 W devices + 25% headroom
- Estimated UPS runtime
- 73 min
151 W estimated load
Recording capacity
WARNING345.6 GB/day · 2 TB usable. Estimated retention with margin: 4.8 days (4 complete days); target 30.
Network uplink
PASS40 Mbps minimum planned capacity. 100 Mbps nominal link suggested. 1,000 Mbps available.
PoE power budget
PASS96 W cameras + 20 W other devices. 145 W recommended / 150 W available. 34 W above device load.
Powered switch ports
PASS10 required / 16 available. 6 spare powered ports. Uplinks are separate.
Recorder channels
PASS8 channels required / 16 available. 8 spare channels. Verify recorder incoming bandwidth separately.
UPS output capacity
PASS151 W estimated load / 600 W output capacity. Includes 35 W for recorder, switch and losses.
UPS battery energy
PASS183.6 Wh usable gives approximately 73 minutes; target 30 minutes. Required: 75.5 Wh usable / 88.8 Wh nominal at 85% usable. Validate against the UPS runtime curve.
Decimal GB/TB · Unrounded calculations, rounded display · All results are planning estimates
View plain-text project summary
CCTVPlan — CCTV project estimate 8 cameras · 4 Mbps/camera · 24 recording hours/day · 30 days target retention Storage: 345.6 GB/day; 10.368 TB footage; 12.442 TB including 20% margin. WARNING Available: 2 TB usable; estimated retention with margin: 4.8 days. Network: 32 Mbps streams; 40 Mbps minimum with 25% headroom; 100 Mbps nominal uplink suggested; 1000 Mbps available. PASS PoE: 96 W cameras + 20 W other devices; 145 W recommended with 25% headroom; 150 W available. PASS Ports: 10 powered ports required; 16 available. PASS NVR: 8 channels required; 16 available; 8 spare (negative = shortfall). PASS UPS: 151 W estimated load, including 35 W recorder/switch/loss allowance; 600 W capacity. PASS Battery: 216 Wh nominal at 85% estimated usable fraction; 73 min estimated runtime vs 30 min target. PASS Required battery: 75.5 Wh usable AC energy / 88.8 Wh nominal at 85%. Decimal units: 1 GB = 10^9 bytes; 1 TB = 1,000 GB. Estimates use a constant average bitrate and maximum device power. Verify VBR peaks, recorder throughput, per-port PoE standards and UPS manufacturer runtime curves. No equipment compatibility guarantee.
CCTVPlan · Project summary
CCTVPlan — CCTV project estimate 8 cameras · 4 Mbps/camera · 24 recording hours/day · 30 days target retention Storage: 345.6 GB/day; 10.368 TB footage; 12.442 TB including 20% margin. WARNING Available: 2 TB usable; estimated retention with margin: 4.8 days. Network: 32 Mbps streams; 40 Mbps minimum with 25% headroom; 100 Mbps nominal uplink suggested; 1000 Mbps available. PASS PoE: 96 W cameras + 20 W other devices; 145 W recommended with 25% headroom; 150 W available. PASS Ports: 10 powered ports required; 16 available. PASS NVR: 8 channels required; 16 available; 8 spare (negative = shortfall). PASS UPS: 151 W estimated load, including 35 W recorder/switch/loss allowance; 600 W capacity. PASS Battery: 216 Wh nominal at 85% estimated usable fraction; 73 min estimated runtime vs 30 min target. PASS Required battery: 75.5 Wh usable AC energy / 88.8 Wh nominal at 85%. Decimal units: 1 GB = 10^9 bytes; 1 TB = 1,000 GB. Estimates use a constant average bitrate and maximum device power. Verify VBR peaks, recorder throughput, per-port PoE standards and UPS manufacturer runtime curves. No equipment compatibility guarantee.
Transparent assumptions.
Practical estimates.
A UPS has a power limit and an energy limit
The UPS watt rating limits instantaneous output; battery Wh determines a rough energy-based runtime. Use maximum camera load plus other PoE devices, recorder consumption, switch base power and an allowance for conversion and cable losses. Nominal battery energy must be reduced to an estimated usable AC energy. If you already have usable energy at the UPS output, choose that mode to avoid applying losses twice. Battery chemistry, age, temperature, discharge rate, cutoff voltage and the UPS's own consumption can materially change real runtime. Validate with manufacturer runtime curves or a controlled load test.
Formula / method
Estimated load W = cameras × maximum camera W + other PoE W + recorder/switch/loss allowance W
Usable Wh = nominal battery Wh × usable fraction; or enter usable Wh directly
Runtime minutes ≈ usable Wh ÷ load W × 60; required usable Wh = load W × target minutes ÷ 60
Units: Mbps = 1,000,000 bits/second; 8 bits = 1 byte. 1 GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes; 1 TB = 1,000 GB. W measures power; Wh measures energy. Values are calculated without intermediate rounding. A displayed estimate is not a guarantee.
Eight 12 W cameras, 20 W of other PoE devices and 35 W for recorder, switch and losses give 151 W. A 216 Wh nominal battery at an assumed 85% usable fraction yields 183.6 Wh and about 73 minutes. A 30-minute target needs 75.5 Wh usable, or about 88.8 Wh nominal at that same fraction.
Before you specify.
Can I use the UPS VA rating as watts?
No. Use the manufacturer's output watt rating for the load comparison. VA and watts are different quantities, and the relationship depends on equipment power factor and UPS limits.
Is the default 85% a manufacturer specification?
No. It is an editable planning assumption for the fraction of nominal battery energy that reaches the load. It is not a claim about any UPS model. Change it to reflect your system or enter known usable AC energy.
What if the load exceeds the UPS rating?
The UPS may overload or shut down. CCTVPlan shows an output-capacity warning and treats the energy-only runtime as theoretical. Choose sufficient watt capacity before relying on the battery runtime estimate.